


Shattered Kingdom

by bugheadandjughead



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Fluff and Angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-12
Updated: 2017-06-14
Packaged: 2018-11-13 06:41:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11179185
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bugheadandjughead/pseuds/bugheadandjughead
Summary: His kingdom was shattered. Darkness crept in his kingdom and tore it apart from within. The princess from the rivaling kingdom was the only one who could repair it.





	1. Chapter 1

“These are dark times,” King Forsythe Pendleton II proclaimed to his son, “dark times indeed.”

Forsythe Pendleton III — otherwise known as just Prince Forsythe — watched his father pace the throne room. The look on his face was … unreadable.

“Father,” Prince Forsythe stepped forward. The king stopped him with an outstretched hand. He shook his head very slightly, causing the prince to step back to where he was before.

“Our kingdom must thrive against the rivals. The Cooper Kingdom will perish, I promise you son.”

Prince Forsythe thought about Princess Elizabeth, and something within him twisted unpleasantly. He hated her. Absolutely _hated_ her. But he wasn’t sure if that was just his own opinion, or his dad’s opinion that he’d just adopted as his own.

“Then let’s declare war,” he said.

But King Forsythe shook his head again. “Son, that’s a big risk.”

“Can’t we just kidnap the princess? Or — or kill the queen? We need to do something that makes them _want_ war with us.”

King Forsythe sat on his throne, and crossed his legs. “We can’t just do that. We’ve got barely any money to support us in war. We’d go into debt as a kingdom, Forsythe!”

The prince was stunned speechless. _Debt? But how …_

“Can we ask to borrow money from the Lodge Kingdom?” he knew he was desperate at this point.

The king waved him away. “No. Now go put Princess Bean to sleep, would you?”

He stared at his father for a moment. Was this man a stranger to him now? Was he going soft toward the Cooper Kingdom? Surely it wasn’t because of Queen Alice. That woman was just as evil as her daughters — worse even!

Prince Forsythe’s teeth ground together as he stepped out of the throne room and into the grand hallway.

If his father wasn’t going to declare war, he would. He would declare war so legendary that the Jones’ kingdom will never be forgotten!

* * *

 

Princess Elizabeth Cooper never slept. She always had her nose buried in a book, or, often times her nose was in other people’s business.

She loved stories. She loved the promise of a story. And if someone was doing something worth noticing, like winning a horse race, or singing something beautiful at the opera house, she saw that as a story to tell.

Usually, she spent her nights reading a book. Others, she spent investigating.

And tonight, was one of those nights.

As she crept around the opera house, she noticed something peculiar. In the shadows of the alley way, there were two people. From a distance, it looked as if they were just talking. But the closer she got, the more she noticed it was an argument.

Princess Elizabeth crept even closer, keeping her skirt bunched in her hands, in order to avoid mud puddles.

“You’re an idiot, Archibald,” one of them exclaimed, “the Queen will have your head!”

Archibald … ? He was the man she was arranged to marry in a month.

“I promise I’ll be more careful,” the other — Archibald — said.

“Why would you do something like this? I’m sure Princess Elizabeth wouldn’t marry you after such an appalling action!”

Princess Elizabeth leaned back against the cool cobblestone wall of the opera house, and sighed quietly.

“I know, and I’m sorry.”

“Tell that to the Queen,” the man said. Quick footsteps echoed against the cobblestone streets, and soon, the arguing man passed her in a huff. She caught a whiff of something unfamiliar as he walked by her. He barely even noticed her hiding in the shadows.

Princess Elizabeth glanced back at Archibald, then quietly stepped out of the shadows and back on the public streets.

And eventually, she was home, and tired enough to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Prince Forsythe hated tradition. Even when it was his birthday, and he was supposed to hold a banquet.

Usually, banquets never ended well. Normally, these banquets would end with some sort of disaster. Last year, someone got drunk and puked all over someone’s desert, which ended up in a drunk fist fight. And _that_ ended the banquet on a sour note.

The year before that, King Forsythe threatened someone’s life — and although it was meant jokingly, no one took it that way. People rioted. It was a dark time.

So you can imagine Prince Forsythe’s fear of the banquet he was supposed to hold _this_ year.

“Brother,” Princess Bean said from the doorway, “it won’t be that bad.”

Prince Forsythe glanced over at his sister — a beautiful girl in a beautiful sage green dress — and said, “every year leading up until now has been a disaster.”

Princess Bean walked in, and took half of the silverware from him. Then, she began to help him set the table.

“Make this year different,” Princess Bean said, placing silverware on neatly folded napkins, “give them something to talk about.”

She flipped her long, curly black hair over her shoulder, and smiled at her brother.

“Alright,” he replied. Normally he’d have more to say — but today he was afraid of how many guys he’d have to protect his sister from.

Princess Bean hugged him, and he caught a whiff of her sweet hair oil. When she pulled away, she said, “and don’t worry about disasters, okay?”

King Forsythe cleared his throat from the doorway. “Son, it’s time for you to give your speech.”

Forsythe followed his father to the balcony, where he began to deliver his speech.

The crowd of people was larger than normal. But that was always the case on days like these. Normally, on traditional days, when Prince Forsythe gave a speech instead of his father, the crowds were huge. It normally consisted of about two hundred people. On traditional days? The number was doubled.

His father stood at his right side, a body guard on Prince Forsythe’s left.

“Days have never been more dire,” the Prince began, “never before in history has one kingdom been more hostile toward our own. It’s at times like these when we need those closest to us in order to survive.”

The crowd mumbled its approval.

“Things are getting rough — darker. We must fight to survive. In fact, I take this moment to formally declare war with the Cooper Kingdom.”

The crowd shouted its excitement. The king glanced over in surprise, his body language stiff.

“Messengers, pass on this message to the Cooper Kingdom: Fight against the Jones Kingdom, or perish.”

Once his speech was over, though, he somehow found himself thinking of Princess Elizabeth Cooper, and hoping that somehow, she’d make it out of this war alive.

But as quickly as that hope had entered his mind he banished it. He didn’t want to be going soft toward the Cooper girls, especially not Elizabeth.

* * *

 

Queen Alice had never been more distressed. Princess Elizabeth sat with her sister, Princess Polly, on the bench in the garden.

Princess Polly had told her everything. Queen Alice received a message from the Jones Kingdom — they were going into war, whether they liked it or not. Elizabeth had never seen a kingdom more dark than the Jones Kingdom.

And she could only help if they asked for it, but they didn’t seem to be in the asking mood.

Polly patted Elizabeth’s knee. “I know you want to help,” she said softly, “but you can’t, not yet.”

Elizabeth smiled. “Thank you, Polly.”

One of their maids — her name might’ve been Bethel — came outside to water the plants.

Elizabeth said, “Bethel?”

She turned, and smiled, “yes ma’am?”

“Do you want to be promoted?”

Bethel grinned, “but of course! What’s my new job, your highness?”

Elizabeth stood, and took off her white gloves. Her pink dress flowed with the wind as she stood.

“Be my spy. Gather intel on the Jones Kingdom — tell me _everything._ ”

Bethel curtsied. “I shall go get dressed for the part, your highness.”

“Please, call me Elizabeth.”


End file.
